Rear Hitches

[bert01xj]

if you check you local chapter you might find one cheap or free like i did.

 

[scott00tj]

I did some searching and found the part numbers (from a 2000 parts catalog) to order the oem hitch and its mounting hardware brand new. In case someone wanted the info here it is.

2" receiver - 82204709
1.25" receiver - 82202852

 

[heyhar]

I did some searching and found the part numbers (from a 2000 parts catalog) to order the oem hitch and its mounting hardware brand new. In case someone wanted the info here it is.

2" receiver - 82204709
1.25" receiver - 82202852

I'm afraid to ask, but what prices go along with these hitches?

 

[scott00tj]

I'm afraid to ask, but what prices go along with these hitches?

http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/ (I've shopped there before) shows the MSRP price of $226.00 and their price is $176.28. The part number was for the 2" hitch and its mounting hardware.

 

[kastein]

by the time you get to a weight where that matters, you are way way beyond the safe towing capacity for an XJ

yes, but a rear receiver hitch makes a rather economical and sturdy recovery point, and the more bolts you use for that the better... recovering only the receiver hitch, bolts, nutstrips, and bottoms of the frame rails would suck :jester:

I 'm not sure how it varies by year, but I think most XJ's have a plug behind the trim behind the spare tire, to which an adapter can be attached. All three of mine have come with the wiring already in, so I never had to dig too deep.

I used a Holly wiring harness that plugged into the stock wiring as well. It's got a T-shaped electronics box (has some diodes, resistors, and power transistors in it, looked into building my own but then got lazy and just bought one) with a connector on each side that plugs between two of the stock wiring harness connectors. You just unplug the harness, plug in the trailer wiring harness, then plug the connector you unplugged back into the other side of the trailer wiring harness / box.

 

[Rmart30]

I have a Hidden Hitch on both of my XJ's, only the receiver section sits below the bumper. Not sure what they are going for new nowadays, but you might be able to find one used.

X2 on that.....some of the hitches hang way low and just look like crap.
The one U haul sells is hidden quite nicely. I think they are made by Valley.

 

[Matthew Currie]

The U-haul hitches might be nice, but I recommend that if you get one you install it yourself. If you intend ever to take the hitch off again, avoid the carriage bolts with square washers that they use to install them, and get the nut strips. Both my 95 and 99 came with U-haul hitches (small receiver, which is why I took them out), and they were a bear to remove. If they loosen up at all, they're impossible to tighten, too. In addition, the 99 had been installed by someone with no brains at all, who tore holes in the frame for access, and who pried the right hand nut strip up out of the way in order to install the bolts. It was a real ****-up, and required a good bit of torch work to remove. I think there are still some pieces rolling around in there.

 

[xjsnake]

The U-haul hitches might be nice, but I recommend that if you get one you install it yourself. If you intend ever to take the hitch off again, avoid the carriage bolts with square washers that they use to install them, and get the nut strips. Both my 95 and 99 came with U-haul hitches (small receiver, which is why I took them out), and they were a bear to remove. If they loosen up at all, they're impossible to tighten, too. In addition, the 99 had been installed by someone with no brains at all, who tore holes in the frame for access, and who pried the right hand nut strip up out of the way in order to install the bolts. It was a real ****-up, and required a good bit of torch work to remove. I think there are still some pieces rolling around in there.

x2 When I went to remove my Uhaul hitch off a junkyard vehicle (for all of $18!) I took a breaker bar and a piece of pipe and just over tightened the bolts till they snapped and bought new hardware for installing it on my XJ. I have been very happy with my Uhaul hitch, tucks up tightly and appears to have been well constructed.

 

[kastein]

Agreed...

PS, a neat trick for the bolts, should you decide to thread them in from above rather than putting the nuts in the frame rail or using nutstrips. Get out your fluxcore or MIG welder, grab the bolt head with the ground clamp and strike an arc on the center of the tip of the bolt. Without pulling back as usual, stop the arc so that the wire sticks to the puddle. Now take the ground clamp off and feed wire out till you have about a foot... cut it loose and grab another bolt! Works better with MIG wire because it doesn't snap when bent sharply, but I like to do this when threading bolts into a tight location, as a bonus I can grab the end of the wire and pull the head of the bolt against the frame while finger tightening the nut. Only thing to be careful of is not getting spatter or weld on the threads of the bolt.

 

[scott00tj]

Rock Auto has a class III Curt hitch for $105.89 + shipping.

 

[hubs97xj]

I've been using the Curt 13160 for several years now. No complaints, it's probably overkill for what I do, but I like it. I got the hitch for about 130 shipped; plug-n-play wiring adapter and a DS nut strip made for a grand total of around $180. Hitch comes with the correct Metric hardware, as well as the carriage bolts, nuts, and those square washers (having installed both, I prefer the nutstrips). The only thing I would have done differently is to have bought new strips for both sides- chasing the threads on the PS strip was a PITA, as I didn't have a tap of the correct size.